The immigration department of Canada, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, has recently held this week’s third Express Entry Draw. 

Latest EE Draw for Healthcare Workers. 

IRCC sent Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to 3600 candidates under the latest EE Draw for Healthcare workers. In this draw, IRCC targeted the healthcare sector from the selected categories under Express Entry category-based draws for this year. Interested Healthcare professionals who had a minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) score of 431 were invited to apply. 

Overview of Express Entry Draws This October.  

October’s latest EE draw for healthcare workers comes after the two other Express Entry draws held by IRCC this week. 

On October 25, IRCC held the second EE draw of this week and issued 300 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) to candidates who had a high proficiency in the French Language. Candidates required a minimum CRS score of 486 to be eligible for this draw. 

The first EE draw of this week was held for PNP candidates on October 24. IRCC invited a total of 1548 candidates from the provincial nomination program in this draw. To be eligible for the draw, candidates needed a minimum CRS score of 776. This draw was the first PNP-only draw since May 10. 

Notably, the cut-off CRS score for the PNP draws is generally higher because the Express Entry candidates who also receive a PNP nomination are automatically rewarded with an extra 600 CRS points. 

Prior to the October 24 Express Entry draw, IRCC conducted the all-program Express Entry draw on October 10. A total of 3,725 candidates received Invitations to Apply (ITAs) who had a minimum CRS score of 500. 

IRCC Removed the Upfront Medical Examination Requirement for EE Candidates 

Beginning on October 1, 2023, IRCC eliminated the requirement for Express Entry candidates to undergo an upfront immigrant medical examination (IME) prior to submitting their application for permanent residence. This means that candidates of Express Entry do not need to complete a medical examination as part of their initial application. 

It’s notable that a medical exam is still a requirement in EE. IRCC will email additional instructions about the medical exam to candidates in the future. 

Candidates may upload a blank document in the required field of the Express Entry profile builder. 

Candidates who have already completed their immigrant medical examination (IME) as a part of their other application and those who are presently residing in Canada are not required to undergo a second medical exam. 

Understanding Canada’s Express Entry System 

Canada’s Express Entry manages applications of overseas candidates from three diverse popular immigration programs, including FSWP, CEC, and FSTP. Here, FSWP shorts for the Federal Skilled Worker Program, 

CEC for the Canadian Experience Class and FSTP for the Federal Skilled Trades Program. 

Candidates under all three programs are assessed by operating the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) by IRCC. The system uses various human capital features, including age, education, occupation, work experience, and language ability. 

Each characteristic has a specific value, which, when added together, reaches a maximum of 1200. It’s rare that candidates achieve high scores in this range. The majority of minimum Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) cut-off score typically falls between 350 and 550. This sometimes reaches even higher, depending on the type of draw. Candidates with the highest CRS score are the most likely to be issued an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for attaining permanent resident status from IRCC. 

Understanding Category-Based Selection Draws 

The immigration department, IRCC, started the category-based draws under the Express Entry earlier this year in May. New categories were selected for the year 2023 by the IRCC. 

Notably, unlike the regular Express Entry draws, the CRS score is not a major determining factor in providing the ITAs under these category-based draws. These new category-based selections are possible due to a new law passed in June 2022. This law authorizes the immigration minister to issue invitations to candidates who they feel can help in meeting the country’s economic needs or who can aid in encouraging the French Language throughout Canada. 

According to this, Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) has decided six draw categories for candidates of Express Entry in May. Candidates must either be proficient in French language or have work experience in the following occupations: 

• Agriculture and agri-food 
• Transport 
• Healthcare 

• Trades 
• STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) professions 

To date, Canada has held ten draws since June under the Express Entry Category-based selections to invite potential candidates. In all these draws, a total of 10,000 Invitations to Apply (ITAs) are issued by the IRCC. All candidates who received invitations were already in the Express Entry Pool.